The Silent Treatment
by darkin520
Summary: Gift!fic for MissScorp. Kristin learns an important lesson the hard way. First season, one-shot. *COMPLETE*


**A/N: This is a prize!fic written for MissScorp, being one of the winners of The Reviews Lounge, Too Green Room challenge. One of her preferences was a 'surprise me challenge'. So this is the surprise challenge I've chosen: incorporating the words bucket, trickle, lemon, and vertigo into a story. I hope you like it, dear. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: SeaQuest DSV and its characters are not my creation. They are the creation of Rockne S. O'Bannon as a 1990's television series. This work of fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only and is not for financial gain. I am just borrowing the characters for a bit and promise to return them unharmed and in their original condition, maybe just a bit happier.**

**The Silent Treatment**

Kristin let out a groan as her alarm went off, forcing her out of her warm bunk. She hadn't been sleeping that well, but that wasn't the point. She reached over to turn it off and noticed the familiar scratch in her throat. She let out a sigh. She'd been getting an awful lot of sore throats lately, but she wasn't about to let that slow her down. There was work to be done. She pushed herself out of bed and got ready for her day.

Half an hour later, she was seated in the mess hall, nursing a hot cup of tea mixed with honey and lemon to soothe her aching throat. Although the other crewmembers were seated all around her, she took little notice of them until someone decided to sit next to her. She looked up to see Nathan and gave him a small smile.

"Good morning. You looked a little lonely over here, so I thought I'd join you."

Kristin glanced longingly at his plate filled with eggs, toast, and sausage. She was hungry, but her throat was preventing her from actually wanting to eat.

"Aren't you eating?" Nathan asked her, motioning towards her tea.

She shook her head. "I'm not very hungry this morning." Although she tried to mask it, her voice sounded rough and hoarse. She could tell by the look Nathan was giving her that he noticed as well.

"You're sick." It wasn't a question. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I am not sick," she insisted. "It's just a little sore throat; nothing to get up in arms about. It's not going to prevent me from doing my job, so I didn't see the _point_ in saying anything."

"You had a sore throat just two weeks ago. And you had another last month…and another a month before that. In fact, you've been having this problem for a while now." He sighed. "Have you ever thought to have Dr. Levin check-"

Kristin held up a hand. "I do not need you, him, or anyone else fawning over me." She picked up her cup of tea. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a busy day ahead of me." She paused. "See you at the staff meeting?"

"Yes, of course. But I ask that you reconsider...and think about what I said?"

She bit back a snarky retort, knowing full well Nathan was just concerned. She simply gave a nod. "Very well."

"That's all I can ask," he replied. "Feel better. See you at the meeting."

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Once in the lab, Kristin did her best to forget about her scratchy throat and get down to business. Unfortunately, it was also one of those days where everyone seemed to need direction from her to get anything done, which also gave her a headache. And of course, every time she opened her mouth to speak, it seemed her voice got weaker and weaker. She let out a frustrated sigh. _Nathan just had to be right, didn't he?_

She gave a shake of her head. Well, she wasn't going to give him that satisfaction just yet. She glanced at the clock. She had fifteen minutes before she needed to be in the ward room for the staff meeting, and it seemed like everyone in the lab finally had everything under control. She just needed a little time away from everything to collect her thoughts. She quietly made her way to her office, shutting the door behind her.

She made herself another cup of tea with lemon and honey. Then she sat down in her chair and took a sip, allowing the warm trickle to soothe her throat. It did help…momentarily. She just didn't want to admit the fact she was sick. She was always told doctors made the worst patients, and she was no exception. She hated being sick, and she didn't like the thought of being cooped up in her room with nothing to do. She'd go stir crazy, she decided.

Still, it seemed unavoidable. It was apparent she'd have to admit it…eventually. She'd wait until the end of the day. She had so much to do herself. She'd been working on an experiment for months and she had to yet to enter all the research data and present it to her research university by the end of the week. She'd just need to change that timeline. She could pull an all-nighter and make that the end of the day. Then she'd take the rest of the week off and be back to work good as new by Monday. She gave a gentle nod, as if confirming it to herself when she received a knock at her door.

"Come…" Her voice caught in her throat, and she cleared it. Her voice sounded even gruffer than before when she spoke again. "Come in."

A moment later, Dr. Levin walked in. "I brought you the last of the research files you asked for." He placed them on her desk. "Did I hear what I thought I heard?"

"The fact I'm losing my voice?" She nodded. "I'll be fine. It's not as though it hasn't happened before. "

He nodded. "Unfortunately, it seems to be happening a little _too _often. Didn't you just have this problem a couple weeks ago?"

"Oh, no, not you, too?" She held up a hand. "I assure you, I am fine. I've got a little sore throat, but it's nothing."

Joshua didn't reply. Instead, he placed his hands on either side of her throat and began feeling her glands.

She sighed. "Look, I've got a staff meeting to attend. In fact, I'm probably late. I promise I'll let you give me a full examination after that, but-"

"I'm sorry, but you're not attending the staff meeting."

"What?"

"Your lymph nodes are terribly swollen, not just in your neck, but behind your ears. Are you having trouble hearing lately?"

"No, but they've been hurting a bit. I hadn't really noticed until now," she said quietly.

"Hmm-hmm," was Joshua's response. "I'll have Lucas let the captain know you won't be attending the meeting after all. Don't worry; I'm sure he'll understand. I'll see you in exam room three in about five minutes then?"

She gave a quiet nod, seeing as she had little choice now. She then glanced at the pile of paperwork on her desk. _Guess that will have to wait._

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"Just as I suspected," Joshua said when he'd finished examining her throat. "Have you had problems with tonsillitis in the past?"

"When I was a child, but I thought I grew out of that."

Joshua shook his head. "You probably thought you did, but from the way your tonsils look, you've been having problems with them for a long time. I suspect all these sore throats have been tonsillitis, which is why you're losing your voice and why eating and drinking would be causing you difficulty. It would also explain the low grade fever."

"I have a fever?"

He gave a nod. "And the problems with your ears would also be a result of that. Have you had headaches, difficulty sleeping, trouble breathing?"

"All of the above," she muttered and then let out a sigh. "In addition to a little bit of vertigo. I had just assumed these were a result of stress or just a little virus. I didn't even realize…"

"Hey, you're preaching to the choir, remember? I know what it's like to brush off your health issues. Being doctors, we don't like to admit our vulnerability. There's no reason to beat yourself up about it now. We just need to take care of it."

"I suppose that means bed rest?"

"Something like that," Joshua answered. "I think you'd benefit greatly from a tonsillectomy."

"A tonsillectomy?" she repeated, her voice making a high-pitched squeak that made her cough.

He nodded. "I promise you'll feel much better afterwards."

"Well, when? Because I've got so much work to do, and I-"

A knock at the door interrupted her train of thought. Joshua moved to open it, and the captain stuck his head in.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to check on the patient." He looked at Kristin. "How are you doing?"

"She's got an acute case of tonsillitis," Joshua answered for her. "And I'm afraid your CMO is going to be off work for the next two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Kristin's outburst made her cough again, but she could not fathom being cooped up in her room that long.

Joshua placed a hand on her shoulder. "Believe me, you're going to need at least that long to recover from the surgery."

"Surgery?" Nathan questioned.

"Yes," Joshua replied, "she needs to have her tonsils out. I'd say sooner rather than later. In fact, how's tomorrow morning?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Do I have a choice in the matter?"

"Not much," Joshua agreed. "You could really choose any day this week, but the sooner we get this over with, the sooner you can get on the road to recovery."

"Tomorrow it is, then," she relented.

"I thought you'd see it my way," the younger doctor replied. "Now, a few instructions for you. Get plenty of rest. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight. And try your best not to talk. It'll make it easier on you. And I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning, 0800 hours."

She gave a nod. "Very well."

"Ah, ah, ah; no talking, remember?" Joshua reminded.

She gave a mock salute as she stuck out her tongue.

Nathan laughed. "I'll see to it she follows your orders, Doctor."

"Thank you, Captain." He then turned to Kristin. "And don't you worry about a thing. The rest of us are perfectly capable of handling the lab and medbay for a couple weeks."

Kristin didn't doubt their competency, but she did wonder how in the world she was going to handle her research data. She opened her mouth to speak, only to be chastised again by Nathan. She shot him a glare.

"We'll get you a pen and paper when we get to your room, okay?" He offered his arm, and she accepted, though she couldn't help but think that this was going to be a long two weeks.

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She sat on her bunk with her arms crossed. Nathan had escorted her to her room and then left her, promising he'd return 'bearing gifts'…whatever that was supposed to mean. She knew she was supposed to be resting, but she found it difficult to find a comfortable position. Not only that, the reality that she was actually having surgery in the morning began to sink in. She knew it was a simple procedure, but still, the idea of surgery was never comforting. A slight chill ran down her spine, though part of it could be from the fever. She simply pulled the covers up over her and closed her eyes in an effort to rest, though she found it was a futile attempt.

Nathan did return a short time later as promised, and when he returned, he wasn't alone, Lucas and Ben in tow.

Kristin was about to ask what they were doing when Nathan placed a finger to his lips.

"I know you're not particularly pleased about being laid up for the next couple of weeks," Nathan explained, "and while I'd like to be here to keep you company, that's just not possible. But I've got a substitute." He motioned towards Ben. "Mr. Krieg here will be keeping you company to prevent you from going completely insane."

Kristin raised an eyebrow. Did Nathan realize this was Ben Krieg? If anything, Ben was going to cause her to go insane. She gave Nathan a look.

He laughed slightly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know what you're thinking, but I've made him promise there will be no shenanigans. Isn't that right, Ben?"

"Oh, of course," Ben replied. He held up his hand. "I swear I'll be good. As morale officer, I'm just here to put you in a better mood."

"Not only that, we've brought you a few things," Lucas piped up, passing her a dry erase board and marker. "This is so you can communicate," he told her with a grin.

She smiled and wrote _thank you_ on the board.

"You're very welcome," Lucas replied. "And the captain also asked me to do some quick programming for you." He moved to take her laptop of the desk and place it on her lap.

"I had Lucas link your e-mail account to the console on the bridge. That way, we can communicate when I'm not busy."

_That's very sweet,_ she wrote.

"I thought you'd like that," Nathan replied.

"And we've got one more surprise," Lucas added. "All that paperwork on your desk…"

She wrote on the board. _Have you brought it to me? _

"Not when you're supposed to be resting," Lucas told her. "But everyone knows what it's for. Dr. Levin asked me to take care of it for you. And then he'll send it all to your research university for you."

_Oh, thank you! I was so worried._

"It's not a problem, Doc. You just get better now."

"And I promise I'll come see you later as soon as I'm able. Get some rest now. And you remember what I said, Mr. Krieg."

"I promise, Cap."

As the two of them left, Ben said, "Well, how about a game of charades?"

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"Kristin?"

Groggily, she opened her eyes. It took her several minutes to realize who was speaking.

"Kristin?" Joshua said again. "You've come out of surgery fine. How do you feel?"

"Tired…throat hurts." Her voice came out in a gruff whisper.

Joshua nodded. "That's to be expected." He motioned to a small bucket of ice chips on the bedside table. "You can start with these, and as soon as you're feeling up to it, we can bring you something a bit more…substantial."

She nodded and placed an ice chip in her mouth; she then closed her eyes again, drifting back to sleep.

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Hours later, Kristin felt better. Well, at least more awake. She was told a nurse would be bringing her ice cream shortly, and she was looking forward to it. Her stomach was voicing its protest. A knock on the doorframe caused her to look up to see Nathan, holding a small bag in one hand.

"Hey, there," he greeted. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "Not too bad," she whispered.

He smiled. "I'm glad to hear it, though I probably shouldn't make you talk too much." He handed her the dry erase board and marker, which he'd had tucked under his arm.

_I won't argue,_ she wrote.

He then opened up the bag, pulling out a pint of Ben and Jerry's Phish Food Ice Cream. "But a little bird told me this was your favorite ice cream, and I was able to dig some up."

Kristin gasped. It wasn't the imitation soy ice cream they were accustomed to. It was _real_ ice cream, something she hadn't had in ages. _How?_

He simply gave her a wink. "I have my connections. There're a dozen more of those hidden in the galley freezer. And I promise, Ben will not get his hands on them."

She smiled and wrote, _you are a godsend_.

He waved a hand. "It was nothing."

_In that case, would you like to share?_

"I was hoping you'd ask," Nathan replied, taking out two spoons from the bag.

After they'd finished the ice cream, Nathan said, "So, I'm sure those two weeks off are looking better and better to you now, hm?"

_I suppose so. And next time, I won't be so stubborn about admitting that I'm sick._

"I'm glad to hear it."

_But I can't wait until I can talk again; the silent treatment is not very easy._

Nathan laughed. "Well, just remember it's only temporary."


End file.
